Without You
by Awkward Frenchie
Summary: Life goes on...but I die Without You." A look into three minds after Benjamin's arrest. How do these three cope with Ben being gone? Songfic to "Without You" from RENT.


**Hey everyone! I'm back with a new oneshot-yay! This one's my first songfic, so go easy on me please (: It turns out that even when you have no voice, you can still write. So I wrote this. It's a little different from my normal format (which is how I wrote my House fic, Tickets to a Play), but I like the way it turned out. And I just wanted to say something about the song I chose. This is one of the first songs I'd heard from RENT, and it really stuck with me, even though a lot of people overlook it. If you've never heard it, look it up. The original cast recording has the most raw emotion I've ever heard in a duet. When I frist started writing, this was a song I wanted to write a songfic for, but I didn't know how or what characters to use. Then when I was listening to it, I heard one line that made me automatically think "Sweeney Todd!" So that's how this fic was born. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sweeney Todd, Sondheim does. I also don't own RENT, I'm not quite sure who does but I think the Larson Family. Please don't sue me.**

_**Without You**_

_Without You_

_The ground thaws_

_The rain falls_

_The grass grows_

Nellie Lovett could tell you the date that Benjamin Barker was taken away on some trumped-up charge. It was April 14th, 1831. The cold city was finally starting to warm up, then in the blink of an eye, her love was whisked away.

_Without You_

_The seeds root_

_The flowers bloom_

_The children play_

Flowers. Ben was buying her flowers when he was arrested. Now everyday, Judge Turpin would send her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. It was as though he was mocking her. Little Johanna, the sweet thing, thought they were pretty. She was just starting to walk on her own. Seeing their baby grow up without her father was killing Lucy Barker.

T_he stars gleam_

_The poets dream_

_The eagles fly_

_Without you_

Nellie wasn't sure why, or even that, she loved him. They had been friends, even from the time they were children--but never more. Yet everything, from the birds up above to the people wandering the streets, reminded her of Ben. When she looked up at the night sky, she' think that he was looking at the same stars, and maybe her was thinking of her.

_The earth turns_

_The sun burns_

_But I die_

_Without You_

Benjamin was horrified. He had never been outside of England, and rarely far from London. But now he was stuck on this awful island, torn from his family, for a crime he didn't commit. His daughter would grow up without him; his wife was left on her own. Being this far from his Lucy, his love, and their beautiful daughter, would surely kill him.

_Without You_

_The breeze warms_

_The girl smiles_

_The cloud moves_

Spring turned to summer, but Lucy was stuck in a deep frost. Barely able to care for herself, despite her kind neighbor, all she could do was cry. Judge Turpin was making advances, which she denied. _He _was the one who sent her husband away. _He_ was the cause of her tears. Only Johanna could smile now, and even hers were few.

_Without You_

_The tides change_

_The boys run_

_The oceans crash_

Despite her cheerful façade, Nellie was crying on the inside. She was constantly the strong one, for her dying husband, for her mourning neighbor, even for herself. She tried comforting herself with thoughts of the sea, the sand, the sun, but ever her beloved shore was disturbed by thoughts of Ben suffering on some dreadful island. The weight on her shoulders was going to make her crack.

_The crowds roar_

_The days soar_

_The babies cry_

_Without You_

From her window, Lucy could see the people come and go. The days were flying by. It seems only a moment a go that her husband was arrested. It was actually half a year. Judge Turpin was now trying to apologize, for her pain. At least, that's what Beadle Bamford told her. She was being brought to the Judge's house that night, so help "settle some things."

_The moon glows_

_The river flows_

_But I die_

_Without You_

All the light on this island was from the sun or moon. Late at night, the glow was bright, and it was almost peaceful, with the convicts asleep. But Ben was starting to change. He was growing numb to all emotions except for love and hate. He loved Lucy and Johanna; he hated Judge Turpin. Ben could feel himself dying on the inside.

_The world revives_

_Colors renew_

_But I know blue_

_Only blue_

_Lonely blue_

_Within me blue _

_Without You_

_Without You_

_The hand gropes_

_The ear hears_

_The pulse beats_

Raped. Humilated. Attacked. By a man of the law. The same man who made her like this. She felt dirty, alone, alive but dead all at the same time. His filthy hands touched her in ways even Ben had never dared. Laughter. She heard laughter through her screams. They _laughed_ at her plight. They found it _funny_ that she was treated like a common whore. Lucy couldn't take it anymore

_Without You_

_The eyes gaze_

_The legs walk_

_The lungs breathe._

Treated like a slave, for a crime he didn't commit. How like he been like this---a day, a year, a lifetime? Tortured for looking at someone the wrong way. Beated for another's mistake. Talked to like he was worse than grime on someone's shoe. Not able to know anything of his wife or child or friends. Isolated from the world.

_The mind churns!_

_The heart yearns!_

_The tears dry_

_Without You_

_Life goes on_

_But I'm gone_

_Cause I die!!_

_Without You_

Her mind was clouded with fear and disgrace and despair. She lost all will to live. Whispering "I love you Ben" almost to herself, Lucy Barker drank the poison and awaited her death.

_Without You_

He was a broken shell of a man. Though he was not sick or weak, his person had died. Heart frozen, mind focused completely on revenge, and even changed in appearance, Benjamin Barker had died, and Sweeney Todd was born, set on avenging Ben.

_Without You_

Her husband was dead. Her neighbor was good as dead. The baby was adopted by the man who destroyed her family. The love of her life was never and now could never be hers. And Nellie Lovett was all alone.

_Without You_

**(End note: the underlined lyrics are sung male and female together, and I wanted to make that different. Also, this is my longest single chapter yet, 900 words! Rate and review loves, and there'll be a shiny razor in it for you. look, shiiiiiiiiny)**


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